Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, as I know he has an interest in this issue. The school transport system is based solely on providing transport to the nearest resourced school. While it works reasonably well for most students, unfortunately it is detrimental to some students with special needs and disabilities who attend special schools as it does not take account of their medical needs or the support services they require. The problem is particularly difficult in areas such as Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary as the Department insists that students with special needs from the Carrick-on-Suir area attend school in Waterford city. This issue has been raised with the Department on numerous occasions.

School transport has been refused, including on appeal, and I appeal to the Minister to address the issue as it is particularly difficult for students and parents. The problem is that, since birth, special needs students have been availing of services in County Tipperary and have built up relationships with the services and their staff. For instance, many have been visiting paediatric consultants, medical, nursing, psychological, physiotherapy, social work and speech and language therapy staff in Tipperary. In some cases, they have attended preschool services in Tipperary. All of these services are available in two special schools in Cashel, Scoil Aonghusa and Scoil Chormaic, where they are provided by a multidisciplinary team. They are of great benefit to the students and provide families with great support.

If the students are forced to attend school in Waterford, they will have to be taken out of school to travel to Tipperary to visit the paediatric consultant, psychologist, physiotherapist, social workers and speech and language therapists with whom they have built up a relationship. All these services are based in Tipperary. It will be traumatic for the children who avail of these services if they are forced to leave the county to attend a school Waterford, which is excellent, and have to travel back to the county to access the services they require as a result of their disabilities. This does not make sense and will be traumatic and costly for the children in question and their families.

Will the Minister to look at this very seriously and amend the scheme? A small number of students are affected by it and it could be addressed at little to no cost. In fact, it would probably cost nothing to amend the scheme to include these students.

See this speech in context